Apparatus and method for fabricating liquid crystal display panel

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for fabricating a liquid crystal display panel are disclosed. In case of the single mode that liquid crystal display panels are fabricated with the same size on a large glass substrate, unit liquid crystal display panels are kept and discarded not to proceed with a follow-up process. Thus, a material waste is restrained and a yield can be improved. Meanwhile, in case of the multi-mode that liquid crystal display panels are fabricated with difference sizes on a large glass substrate, sub-models are kept, and then after completing the process for the main models, a follow-up process if performed on the sub-models. Thus, use efficiency of the glass substrate can be maximized to improve a productivity and a unit cost of the product can be reduced.

This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 11/251,803filed Oct. 18, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,445 which is herebyincorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. This applicationclaims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-15970, filed onMar. 25, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for fabricatinga liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly, to an apparatusand method for fabricating a liquid crystal display panel in which adefective unit liquid crystal display panel is discarded so thatfollow-up processes are not performed on the defective unit liquidcrystal display panel when a single mode that liquid crystal displaypanels are fabricated with the same size on a large glass substrate, andin case of a multi-mode that liquid crystal display panels arefabricated with different sizes, sub-models are kept to proceed with afollow-up process.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

In general, a liquid crystal display device displays a desired image byindividually supplying a data signal according to image information toliquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix form and controlling a lighttransmittance of the liquid crystal cells.

An improvement of yield in manufacturing liquid crystal display devicesmay be obtained by forming a plurality of thin film transistor arraysubstrates on a large mother substrate and a plurality of color filtersubstrates on a separate mother substrate. The mother substrates arethen attached. A plurality of unit liquid crystal display panels areformed from the attached thin film transistor array substrates and thecolor filter substrates and separated by cutting.

Usually, cutting of the unit liquid crystal display panels is performedsuch that a predetermined cutting line is formed on the surface of themother substrate by using a wheel with a stronger hardness compared to aglass and propagating a crack along the cutting predetermined line.

The liquid crystal display panel will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating a section of a plurality ofunit liquid crystal display panels formed by attaching a first mothersubstrate with a plurality of thin film transistor array substratesformed thereon and a second mother substrate with color filtersubstrates formed thereon.

With reference to FIG. 1, in the unit liquid crystal display panels, thethin film transistor array substrates 1 protrude to one side compared tothe color filter substrates 2, because a gate pad unit (not shown) and adata pad unit (not shown) are formed at the marginal portion of the thinfilm transistor array substrate 1 that does not overlap with the colorfilter substrate 2.

Accordingly, the color filter substrates 2 formed on the second mothersubstrate 30 are formed isolated by a dummy region 31 corresponding tothe protruded portion of the thin film transistor array substrates 1formed on the first mother substrate 20.

The unit liquid crystal display panels are suitably disposed such thatthe area of the first and the second mother substrates 20 and 30 can beutilized at the maximum, and though they differ depending on a model,the unit liquid crystal display panels are usually formed isolated by adummy region 32.

After the first mother substrate 20 with the thin film transistor arraysubstrates 1 and the second mother substrate 30 with the color filtersubstrates 2 are attached to each other, the liquid crystal displaypanels are individually cut. At this time, the dummy region 31 formed atthe portion where the color filter substrates 2 of the second mothersubstrate are isolated and the dummy region 32 isolating the unit liquidcrystal display panels are simultaneously removed.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a plane structure of the unit liquidcrystal display panel.

With reference to FIG. 2, the unit liquid crystal display panel 10includes an image display unit 13 in which liquid crystal cells arearranged in a matrix form, a gate pad part 14 for connecting gate lines(GL1 to GLm) of the image display unit 13 to a gate driver integratedcircuit (not shown) to which a gate signal is applied, and a data padpart 15 for connecting data lines (DL1 to DLn) of the image display unit13 to a data driver integrated circuit (not shown) to which imageinformation is applied.

The gate pad part 14 and the data pad part 15 are formed at marginalportions of the thin film transistor array substrate 1, which protrudefrom the short side and the long side of the thin film transistor arraysubstrate 1 as compared to the color filter substrate 2.

Though not shown in detail on the drawing a thin film transistor forswitching the liquid crystal cells is formed at each of intersectionalportions of the data lines DL1 to DLn and the gate lines GL1 to GLm. Thedata and gate lines define pixel or cell regions that include a pixelelectrode connected to the thin film transistor for applying an electricfield to the liquid crystal cells. A passivation film for protecting thedata lines DL1 to DLn and the gate lines GL1 to GLm, thin filmtransistors and electrodes is over the thin film transistor arraysubstrate 1.

The color filter substrate 2 includes color filters which are separatedfrom adjacent cell regions by a black matrix. The color filter substratealso includes a common electrode, which is a counter electrode of thepixel electrode formed on the thin film transistor array substrate 1.

A cell gap is prepared between the thin film transistor array substrate1 and the color filter substrate 2 that they are isolated with a certainspace therebetween. The thin film transistor array substrate 1 and thecolor filter substrate 2 are attached by a sealant (not shown) formed atan exterior of the image display unit 13, and a liquid crystal layer(not shown) is formed in the space between the thin film transistorarray substrate 1 and the color filter substrate 2.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process for fabricating the unit liquidcrystal display panel.

As shown in FIG. 3, the process for fabricating the unit liquid crystaldisplay panel includes fabricating the thin film transistor arraysubstrates on the first mother substrate and the color filter substrateson the second mother substrate (P1); attaching the first mothersubstrate and the second substrate with a certain space maintainedtherebetween (P2); cutting the first mother substrate and the secondmother substrate as attached and extracting unit liquid crystal displaypanels (P3); and checking the unit liquid crystal display panels (P4).

As illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 4 the step (P3) for cutting thefirst and second mother substrates and extracting unit liquid crystaldisplay panels includes: loading the first and second mother substrates(S1); cutting the loaded first and second mother substrates into unitliquid crystal display panels (S2); checking a cut section of the unitliquid crystal display panel (S3); grinding a marginal portion of theunit liquid crystal display panel and cleaning it (S4); and unloadingthe unit liquid crystal display panel (S5).

As shown in FIG. 5, thin film transistor array substrates 111 are formedon the first mother substrate 110, and color filter substrates 121 areformed on the second mother substrate 120.

The thin film transistor array substrates 111 or the color filtersubstrates 121 may be randomly defective due to an unexpected flawduring any of the fabrication processes. The defective cases are shownby ‘NG (No Good)’ in the drawing, while ‘G (Good)’ indicates that thereis no defect.

After the first mother substrate 110 and the second mother substrate 120are attached, they are cut into the unit liquid crystal display panels.

Then, ‘G’-indicated thin film transistor array substrate 111 and‘G’-indicated color filter substrate 121 may be attached and cut into aunit liquid crystal display panel, ‘NG’-indicated thin film transistorarray substrate 111 and ‘G’-indicated color filter substrate 121 may beattached and cut into a unit liquid crystal display panel, or‘G’-indicated thin film transistor array substrate 111 and‘NG’-indicated color filter substrate 121 may be attached and cut into aunit liquid crystal display panel.

Among them, the unit liquid crystal display panel made from theattachment of the ‘NG’-indicated thin film transistor array substrate111 and ‘G’-indicated color filter substrate 121 or the unit liquidcrystal display panel made from the attachment of the G’-indicated thinfilm transistor array substrate 111 and ‘NG’-indicated color filtersubstrate 121 should be discarded because it contains a defect and,therefore, it should not be used in a product.

Recent efforts to increase the number of liquid crystal display panelsfabricated on the mother substrates by enlarging the mother substratecause more unit liquid crystal display panels to be defective and thusdiscarded. The result is that the unit liquid crystal display panels tobe discarded may be subjected to a grinding, cleaning and final checkingjust like the good (not defective) unit liquid crystal display panels tobe used in products.

That is, in the related art, the unit liquid crystal display panels tobe discarded and the unit liquid crystal display panels to be productsundergo the grinding and cleaning and are classified into unit liquidcrystal display panels to be discarded and unit liquid crystal displaypanels to be products only through the final checking. Therefore, sinceeven the unit liquid crystal display panels to be discarded aresubjected to the grinding, cleaning and final checking, problems arisein that materials are wasted and a yield is degraded.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing a plurality of liquid crystaldisplay panels formed on a large scale mother substrate.

As shown in FIG. 6, six liquid crystal display panels 210 are formedisolated at regular intervals in consideration of the sizes of themother substrate 200 and the liquid crystal display panels 210.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 7, if large sized liquid crystal displaypanels 220 are desired to be fabricated from a mother substrate 20 isfixed in size, only three liquid crystal display panels 220 can beformed on the mother substrate 200, and the portions of the mothersubstrate 200 in regions where the liquid crystal display panels 220 arenot formed should be discarded.

Thus, the use efficiency of the mother substrate 200 is deteriorated,resulting in a degradation of a productivity and increase in a unit costof a product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an advantage of the present invention is to provide anapparatus and method for fabricating a liquid crystal display panel inwhich in case of a single mode that liquid crystal display panels arefabricated with the same size on a large glass substrate, a defectiveunit liquid crystal display panel is discarded so as not to proceed withfollow-up processes, and in case of a multi-mode that liquid crystaldisplay panels are fabricated with different sizes, sub-models are keptto proceed with a follow-up process.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a fabricating apparatus of a liquid crystal displaypanel including an attaching unit attaching a first mother substrate anda second mother substrate; a cutting unit cutting the first and secondmother substrates into unit liquid crystal display panels; a checkingunit checking for defects in the unit liquid crystal display panels; abuffering cassette holding a defective unit liquid crystal displaypanel; a grinding unit grinding a marginal portion of the unit liquidcrystal display panel; and a final checking unit checking the unitliquid crystal display panels.

To achieve the above object, there is also provided a method forfabricating of a liquid crystal display panel including determiningwhether a liquid crystal display panel is a single mode or a multi-mode;determining whether a cut unit liquid crystal display panel isnon-defective or defective in the single mode; sorting out anddiscarding any defective unit liquid crystal display panel; grinding amarginal portion of any non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel;finally checking the non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel;determining whether the cut unit liquid crystal display panel is a mainmodel or a sub-model of the multi-mode; grinding a marginal portion ofthe unit liquid crystal display panel of the main model; finallychecking the unit liquid crystal display panel of the main model;holding the unit liquid crystal display panel of the sub-model in abuffering cassette; determining whether the processing of the main modelhas been completed; grinding a marginal portion of the unit liquidcrystal display panel of the sub-model if the processing of the mainmodel has been completed; and finally checking the unit liquid crystaldisplay panel of the sub-model.

To achieve the above object, there is also provided a method forfabricating of a liquid crystal display panel including determiningwhether a liquid crystal display panel is a single mode or a multi-mode;determining whether a cut unit liquid crystal display panel isnon-defective or defective in the single mode; sorting out anddiscarding any defective unit liquid crystal display panel; grinding amarginal portion of any non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel;finally checking the non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel;determining whether the cut unit liquid crystal display panel is a mainmodel or a sub-model of the multi-mode; determining whether a cut unitliquid crystal display panel of the main model is non-defective ordefective; sorting out and discarding any defective unit liquid crystaldisplay panel of the main model; grinding a marginal portion of thenon-defective unit liquid crystal display panel of the main model;finally checking the non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel ofthe main model; holding the unit liquid crystal display panel of thesub-model in a buffering cassette; determining whether the processing ofthe main model has been completed; determining whether a cut unit liquidcrystal display panel of the sub model is non-defective or defective ifthe processing of the main model has been completed; sorting out anddiscarding any defective unit liquid crystal display panels of the submodel; grinding a marginal portion of the non-defective unit liquidcrystal display panel of the sub-model; and finally checking the unitliquid crystal display panel of the sub-model.

The foregoing and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating a sectional of a plurality ofunit liquid crystal display panels formed by attaching a first mothersubstrate with thin film transistor array substrates formed thereon anda second mother substrates with color filter substrates formed thereon;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a schematic plan structure of anindividually cut unit liquid crystal display panel;

FIG. 3 is a brief flow chart of a process of fabricating the unit liquidcrystal display panel;

FIG. 4 is a detailed flow chart of a process of cutting the first mothersubstrate and the second mother substrate after they have been attachedand extracting a unit liquid crystal display panel of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view showing defective thin film transistor arraysubstrates and defective color filter substrates formed on the first andsecond mother substrates;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing a plurality of liquid crystaldisplay panel formed on a large mother substrate;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing relatively large liquid crystaldisplay panels formed on the mother substrate of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a fabricating apparatus of a liquid crystaldisplay panel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary view showing a mother substrate on which liquidcrystal display panels with difference sizes are formed;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a fabricating apparatus of a liquidcrystal display panel in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method for fabricating a liquid crystaldisplay panel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an apparatus for fabricating of a liquidcrystal display panel in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 8, an apparatus for fabricating a liquid crystaldisplay panel includes an attaching unit 301 for attaching a firstmother substrate with thin film transistor array substrates formedthereon and a second mother substrate with color filter substratesformed thereon; a cutting unit 302 for cutting the first and secondmother substrates into unit liquid crystal display panels; a cut sectionchecking unit 303 for checking the cut section of the cut unit liquidcrystal display panel; a buffering cassette 304 for sorting out andholding a defective unit liquid crystal display panel (in case of asingle mode in which the unit liquid crystal display panels are the samein size), and sorting out and holding sub-model unit liquid crystaldisplay panels (in case of a multi-mode in which the unit liquid crystaldisplay panels are different in size); a controller 305 for providinginformation on the single mode and the multi-mode to the bufferingcassette 304; a grinding unit 306 for grinding a marginal portion of aperfect non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel in case of thesingle mode and grinding a marginal portion of the unit liquid crystaldisplay panel of a main model in case of the multi-mode; and a finalchecking unit 307 for checking the grinding unit liquid crystal displaypanels.

Processes performed in each block of the fabricating apparatus of aliquid crystal display panel will now be described in detail.

First, orientations are performed on the first mother substrate withthin film transistor array substrates formed thereon and on the secondmother substrate with color filter substrates formed thereon. Inperforming the orientations, the first mother substrate and the secondmother substrate are loaded into a first process line and a secondprocess line, respectively, and subjected to cleaning, orientation filmprinting, curing, checking and rubbing. After rubbing is completed, thefirst and second mother substrates are unloaded from the first processline and the second process line.

The orientation-completed first mother substrate and second mothersubstrate are attached by the attaching unit 301. The attaching processdiffers depending on formation methods of a liquid crystal layer.

Liquid crystal layer formation methods are roughly divided into a vacuuminjection method and a dropping method. In the vacuum injection method,the first mother substrate with the thin film transistor arraysubstrates formed thereon and the second mother substrate with the colorfiler substrates formed thereon are attached with a uniform cell-gaptherebetween and cut into unit liquid crystal display panels. Then, aliquid crystal is filled in a container and a liquid crystal injectionhole provided at one short side of the unit liquid crystal display panelis put in or comes in contact with the liquid crystal. Pressure andvacuum are controlled so the liquid crystal from the container fills theempty space of the cell-gap between the substrates.

Thus, in case of adopting the vacuum injection method, a sealant and aspacer are formed on the first and second mother substrates and attachedbefore liquid crystal is provided.

Meanwhile, in the dropping method, a normal amount of liquid crystal isdropped on one of first and second mother substrates and a sealant isformed on the other substrate in appropriate locations for the unitliquid crystal display panels to be cut from the mother substrates.Then, the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate arepressurized to be attached in a chamber, so that the dropped liquidcrystal can be uniformly distributed over the unit liquid crystaldisplay panels of the mother substrates. In this respect, the liquidcrystal dropping and the sealant forming can be simultaneously performedat either one of the first and second mother substrates.

The first and second mother substrates as attached are cut into unitliquid crystal display panels by the cutting unit 302. In this case,referring to the cutting of the first and second mother substrates, apredetermined cutting line is formed on the first and second mothersubstrates by using a wheel with a high hardness compared to the glassand propagating a crack along the predetermined cutting line. The cutsection checking unit 303 checks whether a burr remains on the cutsection of the unit liquid crystal display panel.

In case of the single mode, the unit liquid crystal display panels cutby the cutting unit 302 have the same sizes each other. In case of themulti-mode, the cut unit liquid crystal display panels have differentsizes from each other.

As described above with reference to FIG. 6, in case of the single mode,the six liquid crystal display panels 210 are formed at regularintervals in consideration of the size of the mother substrate 200 andthe liquid crystal display panel 210.

Meanwhile, as also described above with reference to FIG. 7, in case offabricating the relatively large sized liquid crystal display panels 220in a state that the size of the mother substrate 200 is limited, onlythree liquid crystal display panels 220 can be formed on the mothersubstrate 200, and in this respect, since the portion of the mothersubstrate 200 where the liquid crystal display panel 220 is not formedmust be discarded, the mother substrate 200 is not used efficiently.

However, in case of the single-mode, since the cut unit liquid crystaldisplay panels have the same size as each other, a follow-up process canbe continuously performed.

In the case of the multi-mode, with reference to FIG. 9, there aredefined a first region 312 where three liquid crystal display panels 311with a first size are formed at regular intervals on the first andsecond mother substrates 310 and 320 as attached, and a second region314 where four liquid crystal display panels 313 with a second size areformed at regular intervals.

Thus, since the four liquid crystal display panels 313 with the secondsize can be fabricated at the portion of the mother substrates, thatotherwise would be discarded in the case as shown in FIG. 7, theefficiency of the use of the mother substrates can be maximized.

However, in such a case, since the individually cut three unit liquidcrystal display panels 311 and four unit liquid crystal display panels313 have the difference sizes, a follow-up process may not besimultaneously performed.

Thus, in the present invention, in the case of the multi-mode, thecontroller 305 provides the corresponding information to the bufferingcassette 304 and controls the buffering cassette 304 so that the fourunit liquid crystal display panels 313 can be sorted out as sub-modelsand held in the buffering cassette 304.

As for the four unit liquid crystal display panels 313 held in thebuffering cassette 304, the controller 305 controls the bufferingcassette 304 to proceed with a follow-up process for them, after afollow-up process for the three unit liquid crystal display panels 311as the main models is completed.

As mentioned above with reference to FIG. 5, the unit liquid crystaldisplay panels individually cut by the cutting unit 302 may be randomlydefective due to an unexpected error during each fabricating process ofthe thin film transistor array substrates 111 and the color filtersubstrates 121 formed on the first and second mother substrates 110 and120.

Then, it may happen that the ‘NG’-indicated thin film transistor arraysubstrate 111 and ‘G’-indicated color filter substrate 121 are attachedto cut into a unit liquid crystal display panel or ‘G’-indicated thinfilm transistor array substrate 111 and the ‘NG’-indicated color filtersubstrate 121 are attached to cut into a unit liquid crystal displaypanel.

In such a case, the unit liquid crystal display panels cannot be used ina product, and are unavoidably discarded.

In the related art, the unit liquid crystal display panels to bediscarded undergo the grinding, cleaning and final checking likewise theunit liquid crystal display panels to be made products.

Comparatively, however, in the present invention, in case of the singlemode, the controller 305 provides the corresponding information to thebuffering cassette 304 and controls the buffering cassette 304 to sortout the unit liquid crystal display panels to be discarded, hold themtherein and then discard them.

Thus, no follow-up process is performed on the unit liquid crystaldisplay panels to be discarded.

Meanwhile, in case of the single mode, the marginal portions of thenon-defective unit liquid crystal display panels are ground by thegrinding unit 306 and checked by the final checking unit 307.

Meanwhile, in case of the multi-mode, the marginal portions of themain-model unit liquid crystal display panels are ground by the grindingunit 306, checked by the final checking unit 307, and then the marginalportions of the sub-model unit liquid crystal display panels are groundby the grinding unit 306 and checked by the final checking unit 307.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an apparatus for fabricating of a liquidcrystal display panel in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, an apparatus for fabricating a liquid crystaldisplay panel includes an attaching unit 301 for attaching a firstmother substrate with thin film transistor array substrates formedthereon and a second mother substrate with color filter substratesformed thereon; a cutting unit 302 for cutting the first and secondmother substrates into unit liquid crystal display panels; a cut sectionchecking unit 303 for checking the cut section of the cut unit liquidcrystal display panel; a first buffering cassette for sorting out andholding sub-model unit liquid crystal display panels (in case of amulti-mode in which the unit liquid crystal display panels are differentin size); a second buffering cassette 308 for sorting out and holding adefective unit liquid crystal display panel (in case of a single mode inwhich the unit liquid crystal display panels are the same in size); acontroller 305 for providing information on the single mode and themulti-mode to the first buffering cassette 304; a grinding unit 306 forgrinding a marginal portion of a perfect non-defective unit liquidcrystal display panel in case of the single mode and grinding a marginalportion of the unit liquid crystal display panel of a main model in caseof the multi-mode; and a final checking unit 307 for checking thegrinding unit liquid crystal display panels.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method for fabricating a liquid crystaldisplay panel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 11, a fabricating method of a liquid crystal displaypanel includes determining whether a cut unit liquid crystal displaypanel is in a single mode or a multi-mode (S101), determining whether acut unit liquid crystal display panel is non-defective or defective incase of the single mode (S102), sorting out and discarding defectiveunit liquid crystal display panels (S103), grinding a marginal portionof the non-defective unit liquid crystal display panel (S104), finallychecking the unit liquid crystal display panel with the marginal portionground (S105), determining whether the cut unit liquid crystal displaypanel is a main model or a sub-model in case of the multi-mode (S106),grinding a marginal portion of the unit liquid crystal display panel incase of the main model (S107), finally checking the unit liquid crystaldisplay panel of the main model with the marginal portion ground (S108),holding the sub-model unit liquid crystal display panels in bufferingcassette (S109), determining whether the process of the main model hasbeen completed (S110), grinding a marginal portion of the sub-model unitliquid crystal display panel if the process of the main model has beencompleted (S111), and finally checking the sub-model unit liquid crystaldisplay panel with the marginal portion ground (S112).

The apparatus and method for fabricating a liquid crystal display panelof the present invention have the following advantages.

That is, in case of the single mode that liquid crystal display panelsare fabricated with the same size on a large glass substrate, defectiveunit liquid crystal display panels are held and discarded so as not toproceed with a follow-up process. Thus, a material waste is reduced, andyield is improved.

Meanwhile, in case of the multi-mode that liquid crystal display panelsare fabricated with difference sizes on a large glass substrate,sub-models are held, and then after completing the process for the mainmodels, a follow-up process is performed on the sub-models. Thus,efficient use of the glass substrate can be maximized to improveproductivity, and a cost of the product can be reduced.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display (LCD) device,comprising: preparing a first substrate and a second substrate; applyingliquid crystal to one of the first and second substrate; attaching thefirst and second substrates; cutting the attached first and secondsubstrates into a plurality of unit liquid crystal display panels;sorting the unit liquid crystal display panels according to apredetermined criteria into at least a first sub-group and a secondsub-group; determining whether a cut unit liquid crystal display panelis non-defective or defective; holding and discarding any defective unitliquid crystal display panels of the first sub-group or the secondsub-group; and subsequently processing the non-defective unit liquidcrystal display panels of the first sub-group separately from the secondsub-group.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the firstsub-group and the second sub-group having defects is buffered in abuffer cassette and discarded during the subsequent processing of theother of the first sub-group and the second sub-group.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the predetermined criteria include mode of the firstand second substrates.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the firstsub-group is stored in a buffering cassette when the second sub-group issubsequently processed.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the secondsub-group is stored in a buffering cassette when the first sub-group issubsequently processed.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the subsequentprocessing includes grinding edges of the unit liquid crystal displaypanels.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the subsequent processingincludes grinding edges of the unit liquid crystal display panels. 8.The method of claim 4, wherein the subsequent processing includesgrinding edges of the unit liquid crystal display panels.
 9. The methodof claim 5, wherein the subsequent processing includes grinding edges ofthe unit liquid crystal display panels.
 10. The method of claim 3,wherein the unit liquid crystal display panels in a single mode havesubstantially the same size.
 11. The method of claim 3, wherein the unitliquid crystal display panels in a multi-mode have at least twodifferent size.